Mason County, WA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Covered by
- MCC 6.08.030 'food service establishment'
- Permit issuer
- Mason County Health Officer
- Permit transfer
- Not transferable, location-specific
- Pre-opening step
- Inspection required before opening
- Civil penalty
- Up to $50/day, doubles/triples on repeat
- Criminal penalty
- Misdemeanor, up to $500 and 90 days
Summary
A food truck or other mobile food service unit operating in unincorporated Mason County is a 'food service establishment' under MCC 6.08.030 and needs a health officer's permit before serving the public. Operating without one, or violating the chapter, can draw an escalating daily civil penalty starting at $50.
"Food service establishment" means and includes, but is not limited to any restaurant; snack bar; tavern; bar; nightclub; industrial feeding establishment; grocery store; retail meat market; retail fish market; retail baker; delicatessen; mobile food service unit; temporary food-service establishment; private, public, or nonprofit organization routinely serving food; catering kitchens; commissary or similar place in which food or drink is prepared for sale or for service on the premises or elsewhere; and other establishment or operation where food is served or provided for the public with or without charge. ... (a)No person shall operate a food-service establishment who does not have a valid permit issued to him/her by the health officer. ... any person or establishment who violates this chapter ... may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed fifty dollars for each day of continuous violation to be directly assessed by the health officer until such violation is corrected. The per diem penalty shall double for the second separate violation and triple for the third and subsequent separate violations of the same chapter within any five-year period.
Full Breakdown
Mason County Code § 6.08.030 defines a 'food service establishment' broadly to include, among other examples, any restaurant, snack bar, tavern, grocery store, delicatessen, catering kitchen, commissary, and expressly a 'mobile food service unit,' along with any temporary food-service establishment or operation where food is served or provided to the public with or without charge. MCC 6.08.070(a) makes it unlawful for anyone to operate such an establishment, mobile food units included, without a valid permit issued by the Mason County Health Officer. That permit is not transferable to a new owner or usable at a different location than the one specified on it, and Section 6.08.070(c) requires a written application on health department forms plus a pre-opening inspection for any new establishment, with a possible reinspection at renewal.
Mason County has adopted, under MCC 6.08.040, both WAC 246-215's Food Service Sanitation rules and its own 'Mason County Health Department Requirements for Temporary Food Establishments and Functions' as minimum standards a mobile unit must also meet. The health officer can suspend a permit under MCC 6.08.080 for an inspection demerit score above the state form's thresholds or for an imminent health hazard, and can revoke it under MCC 6.08.090 for repeated violations, with a hearing available if requested in writing within five or ten working days respectively.
MCC 6.08.150 backs the permit requirement with an escalating civil penalty: up to $50 per day of continuing violation, doubling for a second separate violation and tripling for a third within five years.
Violations & Fines
Operating a mobile food service unit in unincorporated Mason County without the health officer's permit required by MCC 6.08.070(a) is a chapter violation. MCC 6.08.150 sets a civil penalty of up to $50 per day the violation continues, doubling for a second separate violation and tripling for a third or later violation within five years; MCC 6.08.160 separately makes a violation a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, imprisonment up to ninety days, or both.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a food truck need a permit in unincorporated Mason County?
Can I use one food truck permit at multiple locations?
What happens if a mobile food unit operates without a permit?
What standards must a mobile food unit meet?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Mason County
Compare Mason County to another location·View the Washington food trucks & mobile vendors overview
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